Was left on the cutting room floor. A new crackdown on what they described as terror suspects in that country. It started with a raid in the city of vervia. A grand scale as shots ring out in the city of berbier and flames engulf the ground floor of this building. You can hear gas smashing. The police had been searching homes of around 10 people. They say they recent had come back from syria. During the investigation, we found that this group was about. There was a terrible smell. So, i knew they were not fireworks. Thats why i came here. It happened in two minutes. Yes see anything but i heard it. This raid along with at least 10 other searchers, in the belgium capital comes a week after the bloody snakz france. Bell jum security levels are at a new high. This is only a decision was taken after a meeting organized by two of my ministers to raise the Terror Threat level to 3 on a scale of 4. We dont know of the concrete and specific threats, but considering the situation, we believe it is useful to raise the level of vigilance so that extra security measures can be taken. Al jazeera, berbier. In france funerals were held for five victims of last weeks attack in paris as the country tries to cope with new fear and new reality. Jonah hull reports from paris. In the week following the paris attacks, france continues to bury the dead and to remember what they lived for. In the suburb of montroy, this was the Memorial Services for Charlie Hebdo cartoonis, tinus. I have rarely seen such a talented. What they lived for the slain cartoonists of Charlie Hebdo is the principle of freedom of speech the right to be deeply irreverent to offend equally all religions and positions of power. In doing so they contributed to deep rifts in frances Multicultural Society which includes the largest Muslim Population in the european union. Charlie hebdos First Edition since the attacks has sold out in great numbers with a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad that most musslims belief is its blas femous. If it hurts people, its not freedom. We muss limdz, it hurts us. I have a message, stop caricaturing our prophet. At the World Institute in paris, a message of unity and inclusivity delivered by the pope and he said this about attacks on religion we must bring to justice all of those who attack a religion through forms such as antisemitism. Might not only be denounced but seriously punished. And racism should be fought firmly. I want this fight to be one of our National Causes. A National Cause with legal limitations. Nobody said we should protect freedom of expression at all costs. There are a certain number of restrictions which must be strictly interpreted which are necessary in a Democratic Society such as defamation slander, hate speech apologies for the most serious crimes but there is no blasphemy law. Reporter many muslims may wonder if there should ab blasphemy law with Charlie Hebdo still very much alive. Jonah hull jonah hull al jazeera, paris. Pope francis traveled to the fill peas and talked to the press about the Charlie Hebdo attack. The pope said that killing in the name of god is an aberation. He said freedom of speech had its limits. I believe you cannot react violently but if my good friend dr. Gespari says a curse word against my mother he can expect a punch. Its normal. Its normal. You cannot provoke. You cannot insult the faith of others. You cannot make fun of the faith of others. Elana ahmed vinson is a columnist for Huffington Post in seattle tonight. Welcome. Thank you for being with us. Thank you. The pope said today that people need to be careful not to insult religions. Can you explain why caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad are so offensive to muslims . Yes. Absolutely. In preas islamic arare i cant the people at the time worshipped lots of different idols, demi gods. With the advent he have islam, there came a need to separate the religion and make make a distinction from the idles to the belief in one god and muhammad decided all of the id olz should be destroyed except two pictures. One was, was virgin mary and jesus which he decided to keep and another picture was of an old man thought to be abraham. This seems to be a distinction between obviously the faiths. One of the reasons why muslims the picture. Here we are, france arresting individuals for freedom of speech. You cant pick and choose what they should be able to allow and what they shouldnt be able to allow. It seems friends government wants to protect and support the freedom of speech it stands for but then, you know to not protect the other individuals who they do not necessarily agree with. Thats really unfair. In the United States we allow all hate speech all speech whether you whether you attack a religion or another country or this country or this countrys flag. Yeah. Absolutely. I think whats fair is even if you have hate speech against the french government you can get so thrown into prison for that. So, you know i think the friends pick and choose what they want to support. Free speech are we talking about is antisentism is that considered free speech or racism . I think those rornt questions we need to ask ourselves. Its similar going to what the pope said that free speech should be allowed but we should limit ourselves as to not offhand other individuals. Nice to say but, you know, if you are going to have free speech, who decides who limits what . Yeah. And then also it falls under the banner of racism too, you know. I think some of the cartoons that were published that were antisemitic that caused chaos from france. Similarly we have seen whats happened with Charlie Hebdo is islama phobic cartoons being published, i am not saying, yes those individuals were absolutely correct in going in there and choosing that. Thats wrong. If they were upset, they should have sued the company and, of course that be didnt happen but i think there is a danger here that we are offending the wrong kind of people. We dont want to attract those kind of people to cause havoc in our nation. I understand what you are saying. Just like the kkk or antisemite or antimuslim people in this country, they have the right to say as hateful and horrible things as they can and often do on the internet and in public. The question and i spooech speak out against those thingsa but this country gives the right to say whatever they want. How do you decide . And which religion gets to decide . I think thats a difficult question one i dont have the ants for, but what i can say is that, you know, i think there are limitations to free speech. Even within whatever country, whatever nation you live in i cannot go out and, you know, Say Something negative or spew hatred speech against muslims or buddhists or responsibilities. I am likely to get arrested. Not in the United States. Not in the United States . I could be causing a newsism but in france of course, thats the case. If you do that you can get arrested. I think its difficult. Each nation will have barriers limitations to freedom of speech. I think you cant map one country match one countrys laws against another. There are different cultures. Very true. Alayna thankful thank you very much. Thank you. Prime minister David Cameron is in washington for a twoday visit with sit with president obama. Sglufrs president barack obama has made a habit of palling around with u. K. Prime minister David Cameron. But in light of the paris attack this is expected to be a much more subdued visit. Top of the agenda the fight against the Islamic State in iraq and the levant and alqaeda. Former u. S. Ambassador to nato kirk vul kerr thinks cameron and other european leaders wants the u. S. To do more. I dont think president obama is at all uncomfortable with where he is on these issues. Hes quite happy not being in the lead on some of these issues letting the europeans lead on ukraine, for example, quite happy not being on the ground in syria and limiting what we are going to do. We are going to degrade ices isis i think he is comfortable with that. So i dont see that changing. The leaders are expected to focus on Cyber Security a u. S. European trade fact and fight against ebola. No major annoyancements on those issues are expected. For cameron, he is hoping to make progress in the case of the last british resident shakir amir has been cleared for release but he remains in the detention facility. With his ownly not far away it would be a boost for the Prime Minister if et cetera seen as being able to translate friendship into this mans freedom. Patty colhane, access. To cuba and more changes to the relationship with america. The u. S. Government is easing traffic restrictions to the island. Will begin tomorrow. Senior washington correspondent Mike Viqueira reports. Reporter the administration on jonnaynouncing a sweeping set of measures designed to fill in the blanks. The president s historic and dramatic announcement on december 17th of his intention to normalized relations with cuba after more than a half century freeze in those relations. Travel restrictions are going to beized. There are now 12 categories where you can file with the government to the travel to coupe including family visits education visits visits centered around religious enterprise as well. No special license will be needed as happened in the past. But there is no full lifting of the ban on tourism. In other words, you simple cant go to cuba to go to the beach or to go to resort on vacation. That is being restricted. Also now the administration is saying credit cards can be used for the first time whether you go to cuba. You can use your credit card while you are there. Perhaps most significantly are the easing of limitations on how much money can be sent by cuban americans and others to cuba. Of course this is the life blood, the lifeline for many cubans their relatives in the United States sending them money. The restriction was 2,000 a year. That is now up to 8 dollars a year that can be 70. And if you go to cuba you can bring with you some 10,000 per year. Thats the limit right now. Also the administration on the economic front allowing Telecommunications Firms to get into cuba sending cell phone and Software Technology as well. This after 53 years of freezing of relations. Mind you the embarko has to be fully lifted by congress. There are showing no sign of doing so thus far but there is movement in the private enter prides. United airlines saying it intends to institute flights from houston and newark new jersey to havana. The relationship dates back deck its a. Ali velshi looks at the history. To understand why the u. S. And cuba have had such a strained relationship, you need to go back to 1958. Year president eisenhower n support of the then rebel if i had he will castro imposed an arms em warringo against general fulencia batista, who rose to power in a military coup the year before. Then o new years day in 1959, castros Guerilla Army entered havan a, swiftly overthrowing the batista government. Hundreds of really at the call of fidel castro. Castro promised to hold free elections and not confiscate property owned by foreigners. The u. S. Immediately recognized the castro regime. Cast row even visited the units three months later, touring the country and meeting with then Vice President richard nixon. It was a rare and fleeting moment of friendship between the two countries. It will wasnt long before it soured. The u. S. Grew concerned with castro ordered the execution of more than 500 probatista supporters. He also began to voice communist rhetoric in speeches. The final straw was when castro seized National Land and nationalized businesses owned by u. S. Corporations. United states property in cuba. Ice en hour imposed trade reon cuba prohibiting everything but food and medical supplies from reaching cuba from the United States. If i had he will castro. In response castro reached outed to choosekhruschev. Seized the opportunity and quickly expanded trade with the cubans. Ice en hour in turn promptly cut all diplomatic ties with cuba and, an official policy which has remained unchanged since january 1961. The early 1960s marked cran destine attempts by the u. S. Government to overthrow the castro recommending email including the botched bay of petitions invasion by cuban ex aisles. The most dang dangerous confrontation between castro and the u. S. Came in october, 1961. Thats when an american u2 spy plane photographed evidence the soviet union was intending to build a missile base in cuba. If completed, that would have allowed the soviet did to control Nuclear Weapons capable of reaching targets deep within the american mainland. For 12 days in october, president kennedy and premier khruschev faced off in a confrontation which brought the world to the brink of nuclear war. The purposes of these bases can be none other than to provide a nukelar strike capability against the western hemisphere. Eventually khruschev backed down and the missile were removed from cuban soil. The missile crisis caused a deep wound between castro and the a wound that would take decades to heal. Ali velshi al jazeera, new york. Some republicans on capitol hill are criticizing the release of five prisoners from guantguantanamo bay, cuba. Lawmakers are calling for more transparency. Here is roxana sebery. Congress eased restrictions on transfers abroad about a year ago. Since then the Obama Administration has stepped up releases. This week several republican senators called for a more torium on resettlement. They say the prisoners posed too much of a threat. All five yemeni men were held at guantanamo for years without being charged. Algadr was in custody in 2002 when he was 18. Like him, the other four were captured in pakistan. The u. S. Held them at guantguantanamo as suspected fighters for alqaeda. All five were cleared for release since at least 2009, but the u. S. Government didnt want to return them to yemen for fear they might be ludics into alqaeda there. On the on wednesday, the Defense Department said the u. S. Sent goddard to estonia and the other four men to ahman. It comes a month after six other long serving detainees were allowed to go to youruruguay. Congress some congress men called for a halt. We know 30 of those who have been released have reentered the fight, and usual at a high level because its a badge of honor to have been abn maint at guantanamo bay. Calls for the closed youre have continued at protests like this and president barack obama has long pledged to shut the prison down. The idea that we would still maintain for testify, a group of individuals who have not been tried, that is contrary to who we are. It is contrary to our interests, and it needs to stop. Administration officials insist security is a top concern when it considers releases. A special envoy for the Defense Department said in a statement we take our obligation to assess the Security Risk of detainees seriously prior to transfers. As a result more than 90 percent of detainees transferred during the Obama Administration kwlooiflt around the world. 122 prisoners are left at guantanamo. 54 have been approved for transfer. The u. S. Considers the rest too dangerous to release. The u. S. Spends more than 3 million a year to house a prisoner there. John . Roxanna, thank you. The blog ner saudi arabia will receive his second beating from the government tomorrow. He will be hit 50 times this friday. Last friday he received his first 50 lashes. Part of his 1,000 lash sentence for allegedly insulting islam. He will be flogged every friday until the total reaches 1,000. Reporters without borders called it a horrific form of punish. Amnesty international called it a vicious act of cruelty and said sawedudi arabia showed abhorrent disregard for the most basic human rights. This hour why chipotle is pulling pork from hundreds of restaurants. Plus the cheers and years over todays oscar nomination. The state of the union address. Special coverage begins tuesday, 7 00 eastern. Right here on al jazeera america. A state of emergency has been declared in more than half of the east african country of malau. Flooding has left 50 people dead and tens of thousands homelets. Cath ri soy is there with more. Reporter tuesday at dawn when flood waters swept through this township the raging waters came down from the hills carrying these huge rocks. Several people and live stopping were swept away. 40 houses were destroyed. At home stood here they valvaged nothing. His 11yearold nephew was sleeping. He drowned. We hear something out there like a boom boom. And then when we come to check, we found that there is nothing. Its already gone. People are searching for those who are still missing. These men are looking for the bodies of a young boy and another man we understand were living in that house. They think that the bodies are buried under the mud. Upafter several hours, they found nothing. But they say they wont stop looking. A short distance away hundreds of those who escaped have taken ref ooupz. They have been sleep okay classroom floors with little food and hardly any u tensibles to cook with. This woman told United States, though, that she is just happy that she got her four children out safely. We have never experienced this before. I managed to take some of my childrens clothes, but nothing else. It gets worse as you go further south. Thousands are trapped in villages that are hard to access. Its a disaster that malawis president says the country cannot deal with alone. Catherine soy, al jazeera, southern malawi. Now the storms